General

Having dealt with alcoholism in my life, it scares me how up to this day people seem to be so poorly informed about this disease. One of the reasons, I think is due to its legality. There are just so many companies behind it that it wouldn’t be convenient for them to broadcast in detail all the negative aspects it can bring to your life let alone your body.

In truth, falling into an abusive behavior can be much easier than you’d think. We’re all exposed to it because how socially acceptable it is; for fun, for work, to grieve, to celebrate; it is everywhere. And though there’s nothing wrong with that, getting used to drinking more every time we have a problem, feel depressed or have anything to ‘handle’ emotionally where our tool is a drink, leads to a self-destructing spiral that can end in losing everything we hold dear.

As a disease, the only option is to get treatment, and that means going through a rehabilitation program; which will definitely help to overcome an addiction, nevertheless, the better informed we are about it, the easier it will be to spot any warning signs from our loved ones, or even ourselves.

Here are 6 essential facts on alcoholism everybody should know:

Alcohol changes your brain

One of the best traits we have as a species is our ability to adapt to new environments. We have been able to live in almost every area we’ve set our foot on. However, this amazing aspect of our existence can backfire when we train our bodies and minds to adapt to a negative environment, or in my case, chemical substances.

When we consume alcohol (or drugs) regularly, our brains assume it’s our new “environment” and start changing our connections and brain cells so that we can perform better under the influence. Just as permanent liver damage, some of the changes our bodies undergo while adapting to alcohol stay for good, and even after rehabilitation, they can cause further issues in the future.

Men and women react differently to alcohol

Because of our biological differences, alcohol is processed differently in men and women. The ratio of muscle to fat in men makes them more prompt to metabolize alcohol in a certain way that increases the chances of drinking more excessively, whereas women take longer to process the substance and have a higher risk of enduring permanent long-term damage caused by alcohol.

Of course, how we react as social individuals depends on the one hand on the type of personality we have, but on the other hand, society is constantly showing us how things become easier when we drink, how moments are more enjoyable and how not drinking at a party can actually be either because we’re lame or because we’re the elected driver, not because we rather not for any particular reason.

Alcoholism can be partially genetic

Perhaps it’s not widely known how alcoholism depends on a big proportion of our genetics. If we …